To continue the thread from yesterday’s guest post from Steve Goldstein, here’s something that set new sharing and comment records on Facebook for a station that does very well socially – 100.3 The Sound in L.A.
The Sound’s Mimi Chen found this cartoon by German artist Gerhard Haderer. And the resonance it stirred speaks to Mimi’s inherent understanding of her audience and its mindset.
But it goes deeper than just finding a cute cartoon. We create more relatability and connection when we’re real, self-deprecating, and not afraid to make fun of ourselves. So often in radio, executives strive for control and order in an environment that is anything but those things.
At a time when everyone in Classic Rock may be fixating on an aging audience and “demographic cliffs,” The Sound’s courage to just put this out there, and then stand back and watch the fun is part of the reason why it worked. Social media works best when we’re not afraid to look in the mirror and smile at our truths.
Programmer Dave Beasing told me that this post over-achieved because “it’s funny, relatable, and bonus – associates The Sound with Classic Rock.”
In fact, this post – and the 100,000+ shares it generated – tells fans that The Sound is in on the joke. Overall, this post has had more than 8 million organic impressions, adding 38,000 “likes” in one week.
And it shows that you don’t have to post cat memes and crying babies to generate “likes,” page views, and a stronger sense of audience connectivity.
As long as you’re not afraid to laugh at yourself.
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Not to burst the bubble on the cleverness of tying this cartoon to the Classic Rock format, and agreeing that it certainly connects with the audience … it appears that Mimi found an altered version of the cartoon.
The original is entitled “Stones/Beatles” and has only four “talk balloons” arguing “Stones!” “Beatles!”. Here’s the link to the artist’s website:
https://www.inkognito.de/postkarten/nach-themen/satire/7520/stones/beatles
I wonder who did the modification? It was well done.
Had no idea, KM. Thanks for unraveling the mystery.